Share this page

Related Pages listed by

All over the world, people who rely on access to public space and public resources face a litany of challenges to earn their livelihoods. The challenges largely result from decisions made by local government authorities who control public space and access to waste and land. These decisions, known as administrative decisions, have far-reaching impacts on the workers’ ability to earn a livelihood and on their income levels. Local government officials typically derive their powers to take actions and decisions from regulations or by-laws.

Mexico City Recognizes the Rights of Informal Waste Pickers

The 10-city Informal Economy Monitoring Study (IEMS) evaluates the realities that informal workers face. Qualitative and quantitative research methods together have provided an in-depth understanding of how home-based workers, street vendors, and waste pickers are affected by economic trends, urban policies and practices, value chain dynamics, and other economic and social forces.

The urban poor – the majority of whom work informally – are at significant risk from the increased intensity and frequency of storms, flooding, landslides, heat waves and constraints on fresh water associated with climate change.2 And as a changing climate drives more of the rural poor into cities, the urban working poor face increasing competition.

It is estimated that 20 million people worldwide depend directly on waste picking for their livelihoods. They work in landfills, open-air dumps or collect waste from garbage bags or containers located in public spaces. Waste pickers create considerable environmental, economic and social benefits in the cities where they work.